Ideation of a Beautiful Mind
by pictureswithboxes
Summary: The busy work kept her mind at ease, stopped her thoughts from wandering to unsavoury places, her body from unsavoury practices. AU: Aubrey Posen is a prodigy with a secret.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters**

**A/N: The title is based off of the film, A Beautiful Mind. **

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_Focus, Aubrey, you need to focus_. Aubrey Posen tapped her chalk against one of the many blackboards in her new bedroom, trying to will herself to focus on the task at hand, but there was a speck of dust floating just in front of her. _Just one more equa-_

Aubrey's head whipped around when her door was opened by one of her older brothers, Brad. Brad was two years older than Aubrey and was spending his summer away from college helping Aubrey and their father move into their new home. He was a tall man with lean muscles and sandy, blond hair that was cropped short.

"Hey..." Brad greeted softly, entering the room fully. "I thought Dad told you to take a break from the-"

"Trigonometry, I know." Aubrey nodded, glaring at the board over the rims of her glasses. "But this is calculus. There's a difference."

"I know, I'm the one who's in college." Brad replied, sitting on his sister's perfectly made bed and ignoring her noise of distaste. "You're seventeen and are going to be a Senior in high school, you shouldn't be doing calculus over your summer break."

"Well, I _would _be doing Trig," Aubrey said pointedly, making a few more marks on her board. "But Dad said that I can't do any more today. Even though I told him that mathematicians win wars, he just sent me to my room."

"You're insane." Brad laughed, watching as Aubrey finished her equation and made a little mark on the paper that had been the corner of the board, before taking a photo of the board with a polaroid camera.

"It's been said that genius is akin to insanity" Aubrey stated simply, not looking up as she placed the photo in a binder and turned the board to a fresh side.

"You could try to make friends instead of try to become a new Stephen Hawking." Brad suggested, though it fell upon deaf ears as Aubrey finished copying the new equation. "Are you listening?"

"Yes, but I chose not to respond." Aubrey replied tersely. "It's pretty improbable that I'll make any friends this year for a few reasons. One, I am better than all of them and I'm not afraid to show it. Two, I don't like to talk to people. And three, for now, I don't want friends, so trying to gain some would merely be a waste of the potential friend's time and, infinitely more important, my own time."

"You're pretty hopeless, you know that?" Brad asked as he stood up and made his way to the door.

"You'll eat your words when I'm a professor at Harvard and you're stuck teaching inner city kids who don't have consciences and wouldn't think twice about stabbing you."

"Thank you for the lovely picture that you've painted."

"It's only the truth." Aubrey sat down on her desk chair and began staring at her board. "Now leave me, I need silence."

Brad did as his sister had said and left, closing the door behind him. Aubrey let out a sigh of relief and glanced around the room, the bookshelves and blackboards took up most of the wall space and other than the bed in the corner and her desk near the window, the room was completely empty. Aubrey could hear the wind from the window, blowing in and Brad's footsteps as he walked away, she knew that she would never have complete silence, but it was as close as she could get.

Aubrey sat completely still, staring at her board. She didn't breathe, didn't blink. She couldn't, not when the numbers began speaking to her like they always did, but she couldn't move. Aubrey watched, mapping her plan of action in her head, thinking of the algorithms and subequations. The ritual only lasted thirty seconds, but it felt like hours, days even, to Aubrey. The moment she blinked, it was all over, but she had the solution, or at least a map to find it.

The noise of chalk on the blackboard was music to Aubrey's ears, it soothed her somehow, stopped the strange ideations in her mind. The busy work kept her mind at ease, stopped her thoughts from wandering to unsavoury places, her body from unsavoury practices. Even at that moment, Aubrey felt the need to jump out of her window. Aubrey shook her head, she logically knew that jumping out the second story window would cause her bodily harm, which would interfere with her work. Aubrey shuddered at the thought, she couldn't be alone with her thoughts, without working on her math, there was nothing stopping her from making poor decisions.

Aubrey nodded to herself and took a photo of the half finished equation before sitting on her bed and looking around her room. Everything was in order, her books were arranged just so on the shelf and her desk was neat and tidy. Her closet door was shut, though, Aubrey could see the area on her bed where Brad had sat. She needed to fix that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything**

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Summer passed by all too quickly and before Aubrey knew it, she was walking down the halls of her newest high school. She didn't mind moving around much, it gave her an excuse to not have friends other than just outright telling her father that she had no desire to have them, which one simply did not do. Aubrey kept her eyes trained on the tiled floor, if she avoided eye contact, no one would talk to her, if no one talked to her, then she would be able to concentrate on more important things. _Don't talk to anyone. _Aubrey told herself, glancing at the locker numbers and quickly finding her own.

She placed her books inside based on the times in which the classes were held, before glancing down at her schedule. A.P calculus was her first class of the day, Aubrey sighed, at least she got some form of entertainment. Taking off her glasses and putting them in her locker, Aubrey made her way to class. She didn't wear her glasses during school, it put her on more equal ground with her peers if she couldn't see. It also discouraged anyone taking them and wearing them, Aubrey shuddered at the thought of their grubby hands all over lenses, leaving fingerprints everywhere and the grease from their noses on the bridge of her glasses. No, Aubrey would rather be blind than have to spend half of her night disinfecting her glasses.

Aubrey was almost halfway to class when she bumped into someone. She nearly lost her balance, but the other party wasn't nearly as lucky. Aubrey bent down and picked up the books that she had caused to fall, because while she hated her peer group, she wasn't born in a barn, thank you very much. The other girl stood up on her own, Aubrey would've helped her, but she didn't want to wash her hands four times before class and her hands were full. Aubrey's eyes narrowed to get a better look at the person as she stood up.

The girl was a redhead, though she was somehow tan. Aubrey's brow furrowed as she continued to study the other girl's face, she seemed to have the characteristics that society had deemed to be beautiful. She had bright blue eyes and a kind face, her body was physically fit, but not extremely muscular. She was only slightly shorter than the blonde, though Aubrey felt as though the redhead towered over her. She thought it could be the way the other girl held herself, but really, it was hard to tell without the majority of her eyesight.

"I'm so sorry." The girl said, even her voice was attractive. "I was rushing and I just- Are you new? I've never seen you around."

Aubrey handed the girl her stuff and nodded. _Don't talk to her. Don't talk to her. Don't tal-_

"Well, I'm Chloe Beale." The girl held out a hand, before retracting it at Aubrey's disgusted look. "What's your name?"

"Aubrey Posen." Aubrey replied, trying to focus on anything but the girl before her. _Focus on Pythagoras, when was he born?  
_  
"Hi, Aubrey." Chloe said kindly, giving the blonde a smile, though she didn't really see it since she was focussed on the door. "Can I see your schedule, I could show you around."

"I really doubt that would be helpful," Aubrey said, frowning when Chloe took her schedule anyway.

"You're in A.P calc!?" Chloe exclaimed, looking at the sheet of paper. "And Lit! Holy crap, you're smart! Quick what's the capital of Montana?"

"Helena," Aubrey answered immediately. "But I really don't understand what that has to do with math or English classes."

"You must be fun at parties." Chloe deadpanned, looking back at the paper. "I can take you to calc, if you want. It's actually really close to here."

_Well, that must be why I was in this area of this god forsaken place. _Aubrey thought bitterly as she snatched her schedule back and walked away from the girl. She'd already said too much, now the girl knew who she was, she knew. Aubre bit her lip and turned into the room that was on the sheet. She chose the seat in the very front, right in the center. She needed to be able to see the board fully, to see every mark written on the whiteboard, every movement made by the teacher. It was imperative.

The first lesson was boring, Aubrey already knew the material, in fact, she didn't need to take notes. But she did anyway, writing in her notebook was the only thing keeping Aubrey from throwing it across the classroom. The blonde could only imagine the consequences of that action, especially on her first day of school. The homework was easy and Aubrey finished within five minutes, at least she wouldn't need to bring her calculus book home, it was dead weight anyway, the college textbooks, that she received last Christmas from her eldest brother, David, were much more equipped for her knowledge. Though, she would have to buy newer ones, she was almost to the end of her copy.

"Hey, Aubrey Posen!" Chloe Beale called, entering her and Aubrey's, apparently, shared physics class. "How was your day so far?"

"It's been fine, thank you." _Until you showed up_. Aubrey tried to smile pleasantly, though it looked more painful than anything. "And yourself?"

"It's school." Chloe replied, taking a seat beside Aubrey. "So, sucky, I guess."

"I'm sorry." Aubrey mumbled, opening her book and reading the first chapter. "You should read ahead, in case you don't understand something, then you can ask a question."

"Oh, I don't care about physics." Chloe laughed, not even touching her book.

Aubrey felt her eye twitch, but didn't move. How could someone just not care about physics? The blonde took in a deep breath, she wasn't going to freak out, she wasn't going to freak out. Her throat went dry and she couldn't stop thinking. What if that girl was her lab partner? What if they had to spend time together? What if she came over and saw her blackboards? Her equations? What if she made fun of her work? Aubrey refused to speak for the rest of the class, even though through the corner of her eye, she saw the hazy figure of Chloe Beale, hunched over her desk and looking like she might cry.

_I'm not going to comfort her. _Aubrey told herself as they walked out of the classroom. _I did nothing wrong. _Aubrey walked to her locker and grabbed her glasses, relishing in the ability to see again, only to jump back at the proximity of Chloe's face to hers. People should never be that close, ever. Aubrey didn't even hug her brothers, let alone stand half an inch away from some strange psychotic ginger. God, Aubrey's day was not going well at all. Aubrey spared the girl a smile, or at least she bared her teeth at the girl.

"What's your problem?" Chloe snapped, looking upset.

"It depends on who you ask." Aubrey replied simply, relaxing her face. "I think that I'm completely normal, but my brother thinks that I'm insane. You obviously were an objective third party, what do you think?"

"What?" Chloe asked, all anger being replaced by confusion. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen." Aubrey said, beginning to walk away. "And in eleven months, I'll be eighteen."

"Well, can you-"

"Talk like a seventeen year old? Yes, I am seventeen, this is how I talk, ergo, I am talking like a seventeen year old."

"Well, you seem like a delightful person."

Aubrey stopped in her tracks and looked at Chloe, her brow furrowed. "That's sarcasm, yes? Because I'm a very unpleasant person to be around."

"Look," Chloe sighed, touching Aubrey's shoulder. "I'm just trying to be your friend, okay? So can we start over?"

"You put a hand on me." Aubrey mumbled, looking at Chloe's hand where it sat on her shoulder. "You shouldn't... touch me." Aubrey began to breathe shallowly. "Please remove yourself from this close proximity while I go home and change. I hope you're proud of yourself, now my dress is contaminated."

"I'm sorry?"

"You should be." Aubrey snapped, turning her heel and beginning to walk away, before Chloe called after her.

"Apparently you weren't listening during physics, because we're lab partners!"

_I hate everything._ Aubrey thought, climbing into her car and leaning her forehead on the steering wheel. Before she knew it, Aubrey began muttering numbers again, trying to calm herself down. She began to visualize her blackboard, her sanctuary. The blonde took in a couple breaths, before she felt better. And by better, she meant no longer willing to gnaw off her own arm to avoid infection. _We need to avoid her, she probably knows._


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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Sleep never came easily to Aubrey, the moment her head touched the pillow, her thoughts got louder and louder. It took every bit of willpower that she had to not get up and start working again. Aubrey only got about two or three hours of sleep every night, but her body wouldn't allow her to stay stationary for too long. Aubrey needed something to do at all times, she couldn't just lay in bed and try to sleep, she needed to figure out equations, to come up with solutions, Aubrey needed to change the world and win wars, sleeping wasn't going to aid her in any of those endeavors.

_Get up. _Aubrey's eyes snapped open and she looked at her clock. It was four in the morning, exactly two hours from when she first went to bed. The early mornings were always the worst, Aubrey's mind got malicious around that time. _Get ready for school and maybe you'll have time to start another equation. _Aubrey did just that. She had a ritual for getting ready for school. Everything was perfectly arranged in her en suite bathroom. Her clothes that she had set out for the next day, her hair brush and straightener sat perpendicular from her toothbrush, it was important that everything is set out just so. She knew nothing bad would happen she were to change it, but Aubrey just prefered it that way. That's all.

_I could break this mirror. _Aubrey found herself thinking after she got done brushing her teeth. _I could punch right through it. It'd be easy. _Aubrey shook her head, of course she could, anyone could. But she wasn't going to, she didn't have time for a hospital visit or stitches. She also didn't need to hear her father wondering what's wrong with her, then she'd have to go to therapy. It would be a waste of time, Aubrey didn't waste time, she made more for herself. _Do it._

"No." Aubrey set down her toothbrush roughly and glared at herself through the mirror, before picking up her hairbrush. "It'd be a waste of time."

Aubrey finished her ritual quickly and made her way from her bathroom to her bedroom, where she had an hour and a half before she is supposed to be up in the mornings. The blonde stood in front of her board and put her glasses on, before staring at the problem. The answers would come to her, they always did. _Why can't you get this right? The answer's right in front of you! Stop being so stupid. _Aubrey shook her head, she knew that she was her hardest critic. She just needed to calm down and work.

And that she did, for exactly an hour and ten minutes before her father tapped twice on her door, telling her to wake up. Aubrey set down her chalk and scrutinized her work, it was adequate, but needed work. The blonde sighed and grabbed her things, walking down the stairs and into the dining room where her father was already sitting with a cup of coffee and the morning paper. Colonel Robert Posen was a tall man with a strong build. He had white hair that was pushed away from his face and a thick white mustache. His face was pale and his eyes were a steely grey.

"Good morning, Aubrey." The man said, looking up but not smiling. "How'd you sleep?"

"I slept." Aubrey replied, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a slice of toast.

She ate her breakfast silently with her father, neither of them so much as looked at each other. It was normal, talking wasn't something that Posens did for fun. Aubrey looked down at her toast and noticed that her hands were shaking. It was normal for her to shake, Aubrey hypothesized that it was a side effect of her lack of sleep, but she couldn't tell her dad. He thought she was perfectly normal, or at least he didn't see what she saw. _Stop shaking, he's looking at you. _Aubrey balled her hands into fists and stood up abruptly. _  
_

"Are you okay?" The Colonel asked, looking up.

"Fine." Aubrey gritted out, entering the kitchen and dropping her plate into the sink. "I'm fine. I need to get to school."

"You have forty-five minutes." The Colonel replied, making Aubrey freeze.

"I need to get to school." Aubrey repeated, putting on her jacket and walking out the door with her keys.

Aubrey hated driving, but it was an inevitability. _I could drive off the road. _Aubrey looked out the window of her car and noticed the creek nearly ten yards away, she gripped the steering wheel tighter, her knuckles turning white. _I'm not going to do it. _Aubrey told herself as she kept driving, she can't drive into the water, her father bought her the car she had and she wasn't going to waste her father's money or her time and health. Aubrey instead distracted herself with memorizing the license plates of the people in front of her.

She parked her car in front of the school and looked around at the other cars. Aubrey had taken the long way to school, driving nearly thirty minutes to get the school. Aubrey took off her glasses and left the car, entering the school. Nothing had changed from the day before, everyone ignored her and she ignored them, a couple of times people would say hello, but then scurry away when Aubrey didn't respond. _  
_

"Aubrey Posen, hi!" Chloe Beale grinned, entering Aubrey's A.P Literature class. "Can I sit by you?"

"I can't control where you sit." Aubrey replied, not looking up from _Ethan Frome_, the book they were going to read.

"Well, okay then." Chloe said, sitting down in the desk beside Aubrey. "The thought that we were reading that in class."

"I have more important things to do with my time other than homework." Aubrey stated simply, squinting at the words in the book, god she wished that she had worn her glasses.

"You have glasses, right?" Chloe asked, leaning on Aubrey's desk a little. "Why don't you wear them?"

"The spirit of fair play." The blonde mumbled, setting down her book and looking at Chloe.

"What?"

"When someone had an obvious advantage over their opponents, they are naturally required to level the playing field so to speak."

"So you take off your glasses?"

"If I can't see as well, it should make it harder to focus. If I can't focus, I can't think, if I can't think, then others see me as their equal."

Before Chloe can ask for elaboration, the teacher walked in. She was a short, thin woman with overly tanned skin. Her hair was obviously bleached blonde and she looked older than she was. Aubrey found herself scowling at the woman, she held herself in a way that made it seem like she thought she was better than the kids in her class.

"That's Miss Melvin." Chloe whispered into Aubrey's ear. "She's crazy, I think you and her would get along."

Aubrey rolled her eyes and opened her book. The teacher began to rant about literature and Aubrey had better things to do rather than listen to that woman. She finished reading her book and then pulled out her notebook and began writing a couple more equations down. She might as well do something productive with her time. _Throw the notebook, go on, throw it! _Aubrey found herself thinking, she gripped the side of her desk and furrowed her brow. There was no time for any of that nonsense, she needed to work.

"Posen!" Miss Melvin snapped, causing Aubrey to look up. "Are you paying attention?"

"To be honest, no." Aubrey replied, looking at the woman, though avoiding her eyes. "I had already read _Ethan Frome _and done the homework, so I don't see any use in wasting any of my time by rereading the book."

"Well..." Aubrey raised a challenging eyebrow. "Continue."

"Thank you." Aubrey nodded, getting back to her math.

The rest of the kids sat there, their jaws wide at the exchange. Chloe spent the rest of the class watching Aubrey, she could feel it. _She's looking at me, why won't she stop looking at me? _Aubrey grimaced, closing her notebook and raising her hand. She needed to get out, she needed to breathe, why couldn't she breathe? Why was everyone staring at her?

"Yes, Aubrey?" Mis Melvin asked, looking confused.

"May I be excused, I feel sick." Aubrey replied, not even waiting for a response as she stood and nearly ran from the room.

_I only have two more classes today, only two, I can do it. _Aubrey told herself, entering the bathroom, where she found a stall and sat on the dirty floor. _GET UP! _Aubrey shook her head, feeling tears sting the corners of her eyes. _IT'S DIRTY! I CAN'T SIT THERE! I CAN'T SIT ON THE FLOOR! WHO KNOWS WHAT'S BEEN ON THERE! How can I completely disregard-_

"Shut up!" Aubrey yelled, bringing her knees to her chest and rest her forehead on them, her voice getting quieter. "Please stop."

"I'm sorry?" A voice called out from behind the stall door. _She knows._

"Go away." Aubrey snapped, clambering onto her feet and straightening her clothes.

"I have your stuff." Chloe replied, acting as though she hadn't heard a thing. "It's uh... I read your equations, or whatever they are, you're really smart. Is that what you do in calc?"

"No." Aubrey threw the stall door open and grabbed her stuff. "And you shouldn't be-"

"Were you crying?" Chloe interrupted. "Did someone make you cry?"

"No." Aubrey replied indignantly. "I'm fine, now please, I need to go. Class starts in three minutes and I don't want to be late, okay?"

"Bye, Aubrey Posen."

Aubrey rolled her eyes and walked out of the bathroom, her skin crawling, her eyes red, but at least she still had her dignity.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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Aubrey entered her bedroom in a rage. The blackboard called to her, but she didn't listen. She couldn't deal with it, her eyes hurt, her body hurt, her _thoughts_ hurt. She knew what to do in these situations. It happened from time to time, when everything went wrong, and everything did go wrong. Aubrey shed her school clothes and put them in the wastebasket, they were dead to her now, before entering her bathroom and starting to run the water for her shower. Scalding hot, enough to wash off all the grime from her mental breakdown.

She scrubbed and scrubbed until the hot water ran out, and even a little longer until she felt sufficiently cleaned. Aubrey then readied herself for a run, a seven mile run to be precise. Aubrey put her hair up and dressed in her workout clothes, before putting on her _Nikes _and setting her iPhone's GPS so she could track her miles. The blonde left a note on her door for her father when he would return home.

The neighbourhood was confusing and new, Aubrey didn't care for that, but at least it was large enough for her to run. Aubrey set out at a punishing pace, feeling her thoughts quieting down with each stride she took until everything was silent. It didn't always work that well, but Aubrey was glad that she managed to silence herself. She was so tiresome sometimes.

"Aubrey Posen!" Aubrey felt herself fill with rage. It was Chloe, who too wore workout clothes and was exiting a house that was slightly smaller than Aubrey's. "I didn't know that you lived around here."

_Ignore her and maybe she'll go away, she does have the brain capacity of a common grizzly bear._ Aubrey thought, gritting her teeth as she tried to speed up.

"Seriously?" Chloe sighed, catching up to the blonde's pace. "I'm going to run with you until you talk to me."

"I talked, now leave." Aubrey said, pushing forward.

"Why can't you just have a decent conversation with me?" Chloe asked, looking upset. "I'm trying to be your friend!"

"I don't want friends." Aubrey replied, clenching her jaw. _She knows, she knows, she knows, she knows, she knows, she-_

"Why don't you want friends?" Chloe ran ahead of Aubrey and stopped, forcing the blonde to do so also.

"I prefer being alone." Aubrey sighed, taking to running in place. _She can't know. She can't._

"Why?"

"Why do you need to know, I've known you for a day."

"I just want to be your friend."

Aubrey sighed, running around Chloe, setting her pace faster. _Just keep running, maybe she won't catch up_. Aubrey quickened her stride, hoping that the redhead was not right behind her. But the sound of Chloe's footsteps behind her made Aubrey grimace, this run was meant to be peaceful, it was supposed to be calming, no, not calming just silencing. All Aubrey could focus on was the way that Chloe's footsteps contrasted with hers, the pitter patter became too much to bear. It was terrible, worse than thinking, worse than sitting on a grimy bathroom floor.

"Please leave." Aubrey said, stopping in her tracks.

"Please talk to me like I'm a person." Chloe replied, almost running into Aubrey.

"I talk to you like I talk to everyone else."

"You talk to me like you think you're better than me."

"I am." Aubrey stated simply, glancing around at the houses surrounding them, memorizing each address. _493. 495, 467, 901, 743, 989, 1213-_

"What does that mean?" Chloe practically growled, causing Aubrey to lean back, her eyes widening a fraction. "You think you're better than me because you _think_ you're so smart? I bet you're not nearly as smart as you think you a-"

"Your home address is 593 West River Drive." Aubrey said quickly, her thoughts filling her mind with things to say. "Your posture implies that you've had a childhood injury on your left ankle. I'd say a sprain, but I can only guess by sight. There are currently fourteen cars in their driveways, five being blue, two green, six red, and one silver."

"How did-"

"593 multiplied by seven is 4151, divide by nine and you have 461.2, if I multiply by six I'll have 2767.3, then I multiply by three and have 8302, half of that is 4151, divided by seven and we're back to your address. "

"How do you do that?" Chloe's eyes widened and she took a step back from the blonde.

"I don't know." Aubrey shrugged, taking in a breath. "It just happens, like a bees' nest full of fireworks." _She knows, she thinks I'm a freak. She's going to tell everyone, they're going to hurt me, they'll take me away. Now, I'm going to have to join the army as a code breaker and I don't want that. _

"That's severely cool." Chloe laughed lightly. "Do something else, read my palms."

"I'm not psychic." Aubrey snapped, grimacing at the shorter girl. "And I don't want to touch you. There are approximately five thousand _different _types of germs on a human hand at any given time and the majority of germs spread are from hand to hand contact."

"Sorry." Chloe sighed, putting her hands at her side. "I didn't know."

"Ignorance is no excuse to become a Typhoid Mary." Aubrey scowled, not looking Chloe in the eyes. _She knows, she knows. She thinks I'm a freak. Quick say something normal. What's normal? I'm not normal. GOD DAMMIT WHAT'S NORMAL!?_

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked, looking concerned. "You look like you're gonna be sick."

"I'm fine." Aubrey croaked, her face burning. Her thoughts wouldn't stop, they were bombarding her. Why did she have to put on that display? Why couldn't she have just ignored the redhead? Why was Chloe looking so confused? "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You look really mad." Chloe mumbled, her eyes trained on Aubrey's hands. "They're shaking."

"They do that a lot." The blonde replied, balling her hands into fists. "It's not a big deal."

"And look sick."

"That's because I have a severe reaction to stress."

"You're stressed?"

"Increasingly more with each second that passes."

"Why?"

"Did you not hear what I just did?!" Aubrey snapped, throwing her hands in the air. "You thought it was strange and now you're going to tell everybody! Then they're all going to _look _at me and try to _talk _to me, I-I can't- I can't handle that. Then everyone is going to want help on their homework and it's going to get progressively worse until my dad finds out that I'm a freak and has me sent to a boarding school in Finland where I'll have to learn Finnish and I just can't do that! I already know German, French, Italian, Cantonese, Hebrew, and Russian! Do you have any idea how long it'll take me to learn Finnish?!"

"A week...?"

"... No. More like four hours, but that's a lot of time out of my day, and I'd get a roommate and she'd probably _look _at me and watch me do my problems and ask _questions_. This all stems from me showing you what I can do and you going back and telling everyone!"

"Oh." Chloe stood there in a stunned silence for a while. "But what if I didn't tell everyone that you were Albert Einstein on steroids?"

"That would definitely change the plan of learning Finnish." Aubrey conceded, with a small nod. "You're not going to tell?"

"Of course not!" Chloe moved to pull Aubrey into a tight hug, before thinking better and stepping back. "You're super smart and super awkward and a little crazy, but you're still a person, and I don't like to hurt people."

"Oh..." Aubrey watched as Chloe turned her heel and began to walk away, she felt something strange. Very strange, was it remorse? No. Not remorse. But it wasn't good. "Wait." Chloe spun around, looking excited. "I guess, if you want, you can come over to my house after school and- DO NOT TOUCH ME!"

Aubrey screamed the last part of her sentence as Chloe engulfed her in a tight hug. The redhead seemed to realize what she had just done and let go immediately, causing Aubrey to begin breathing again. The blonde took in a couple deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down and gave the shorter girl and apologetic look.

"Okay! We'll have so much fun!" Chloe squealed, running back to her house, before turning again. "We can go for runs together."

Aubrey smiled tightly. _What did I just do? __I knew I should've just done math. Worst. Run. Ever._


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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Friendship was a foreign concept to Aubrey, she had never invited a non-family member in her home before and other than the usual visits from her father's friends from work, Aubrey was completely at a loss as to what she was supposed to do. It had been twenty-one hours since she had invited Chloe to her home and Aubrey wasn't sure what to do. She had cleaned the house, twice and informed her father, who had done a fine job in covering up his obvious surprise. Aubrey, however, didn't understand why her father had acted so strange, he seemed excited almost.

"Hi, there, Aubrey Posen." Chloe grinned, when Aubrey answered the door. "Your house is huuuuge. How many people live here?"

"I have six brothers." Aubrey stated, beckoning for Chloe to enter. "They don't _live _here, though."

"Wow, your house is really clean." The redhead announced, looking around the pristine living room, before noticing The Colonel sitting on the sofa, reading a book.

"Well, hello there." The Colonel said, standing up and moving to shake Chloe's hand. "I'm Colonel Robert Posen, you must be the friend that Aubrey told me about."

"I didn't say friend." Aubrey muttered, though either no one heard her, or they just ignored the statement.

"I'm Chloe." Chloe smiled, taking the man's hand. "It's nice to meet you, sir. You have a lovely home."

"Thank you." The Colonel replied, before moving back to his place on the sofa. "I trust you'll be staying for dinner?"

"I couldn't-"

"I insist."

"Um, okay." Chloe nodded, before Aubrey led her up the stairs and to her bedroom.

Before opening the door, Aubrey paused, weighing Chloe with her eyes. _She can't be here. She shouldn't be here. What if she sees the boards, what if she makes me do something for her? _Aubrey shook her head a little, before taking a breath and turning the knob. The moment she added enough force to open the door, Aubrey felt immediate regret. Everything was out of place. The blackboard were filled with unfinished equations, the erasers were dusty, her window was slightly opened. There was nothing on the floor, so at least Aubrey didn't need to clean everything.

"It's a mess." Aubrey said, allowing Chloe to enter fully.

"If this is your type of mess, you should see my room." Chloe laughed, looking at Aubrey's blackboards. "Is that what you do? You know, like at night?"

"Yeah, right now, I'm trying to find the-" Aubrey stopped herself, before sitting in her desk chair and gesturing toward her bed. "You can... sit if you want."

"Thanks." Chloe said, sitting down, not taking her eyes off the boards. "Why do you use them, you know, instead of paper?"

"It'd be a waste of money and trees." Aubrey shrugged, glancing at her board. "Beside, they make me feel like I'm doing something special... I don't know why. It's just... I feel important, with the documentation and such."

"You document it all?" Chloe asked, looking confused. "Like, take notes?"

"I take photos." Aubrey sighed, picking up one of her binders and handing it to Chloe. "Then I put them in here. I like to look over them for mistakes."

"I wish I were this smart." Chloe muttered just loud enough for Aubrey to hear.

"No you don't."

"Why not?"

"It's hard."

"What is, being better than everyone? You seem to deal with it pretty well."

"That's not the hard part."

"What is?"

"I am. I'm the hard part. It's hard to... It's hard to think."

"I highly doubt that." Chloe gestured to the binder in her hands. "I mean-"

"I can't think clearly." Aubrey mumbled, interrupting the redhead. "Everything runs into each other and it's hard to focus on something, but then once I get the initial focusing done, I can't stop." Aubrey looked at her blackboards. "I once stared at this board for an hour before I realized that I'd done the whole problem in my head. It's like that with everything, too. By the time someone starts something, I've already had it finished in my mind, four different ways. Including the materials that I'll need and the possible problems that could arise. I can't not think."

"So, you just sit there and think all day?"

"Yes and no. It's weird. I do my equations when I need to stop thinking, I need them. Math is a constant and these equations are like my variables, I suppose, and the way that my day has gone is a bit like an integer. So... you didn't understand anything that I just said did you?"

"Not really. You need to stop talking about math. It's kind of weird."

"If that's the weirdest thing about me, then you have an issue with reality and need to be sent to a mental asylum."

"Was that a joke?" Chloe asked, looking confused. "Did you just tell a joke?"

"No." Aubrey scowled, looking indignant. "I don't have time for jokes."

"Oh... well it wasn't funny." Chloe replied, before deciding to change the subject. "Your dad seems nice."

"He's the best father that I could ask for." Aubrey said, picking up her chalk and making a tiny mark on her board, before dropping the chalk and giving Chloe and apologetic look. "I'm sorry. It's a reflex, I suppose."

"It's alright," Chloe looked down at her backpack, before smiling a little. "You told me to bring my homework, so I did! Are you gonna help me with math?"

"Sure!" Aubrey jumped up and moved to the bed quickly. "What do you need help with?"

"Parabolas." Chloe replied, tossing her math book and notebook onto the bed. "Math just fills me with a rage-"

"Because there's so much of it surrounding us and there's no possible way to be able to learn and absorb it all in one's lifetime?" Aubrey interrupted flatly. "I feel the same way."

"Actually, I hate it because I don't get it." Chloe mumbled, tapping her pencil on the notebook. "But your answer works too."

"Well, what don't you get?" Aubrey asked, seeming genuinely interested.

"Focus points..."

Aubrey grinned, before grabbing a pencil and beginning to explain. She had never really felt so comfortable around another person, though maybe it was because all the talking that they were doing was now math and Aubrey liked math. But she was actually having fun with an actual person, it was definitely a first. _She's not looking at the paper, why is she looking at me? Is that normal? Do I look at her? Why is she looking at me? Do I have something on my face? _Aubrey batted at her cheek quickly, before getting back to work. She ended up doing most of the homework, but Chloe said that she understood, and that was the point.

"You're a really good teacher." Chloe said, when Aubrey finished her explanation. "Like, you should hijack the classes! It'd be so cool!"

"Not really." Aubrey mumbled, standing up and adjusting her glasses. "I don't think I could handle all of the people. I don't really like people."

"Why not?"

"They smell weird and they all look at me weird."

"But I'm a person."

"So? I don't really feel love, just varying degrees of hatred. I don't hate you that much."

"Thanks, I guess."

"That was a joke..." Aubrey looked down at her feet, her face turning bright red. "I thought since you know... we were being friendly that I'd-"

"That's funny." Chloe smiled, before laughing a little. "That was pretty good."

"Thanks." Aubrey gave Chloe a shy smiled, before glancing back at her board. "Huh, I found the derivative... That was relatively painless..."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything**

* * *

In the weeks that passed, Aubrey found herself growing more and more comfortable around Chloe. Usually the blonde would be content with just sitting there and helping Chloe with her homework, that is before Chloe would try to get Aubrey to talk about something other than math. That never worked out as well as the redhead would hope, however. For some reason, Chloe always touched on the wrong subject and made Aubrey either storm out of the room or turn bright red with either embarrassment or rage, or a mixture of both.

"So, where's your mom?" Chloe asked as she and Aubrey took their seats in the library, where they spent lunch everyday. "You never talk about her and she's never around your-"

"She died." Aubrey said bluntly, her face remaining emotionless as cleaned her glasses off. "I was four, so I really don't remember her. It's kind of like she never really existed for me. But don't tell my dad that I said that. Apparently, it's a 'disgrace to her memory,' but really it's just him not being able to cope."

"I'm sorry." Chloe muttered, ignoring the last part of the blonde's statement and putting a hand on her shoulder.

While Aubrey stiffened slightly, she didn't make a move to get away from her friend. She had learned to cope with being touched, but only on the outsides of her clothes and only if she can see the hand. She could compromise, no one will ever say that Aubrey Posen is _completely_ unreasonable with her requests. It still baffled Aubrey however, why do people feel the need to have so much contact with one another? It was just plain wrong.

"Why?" Aubrey asked, furrowing her brow. "I highly doubt that you gave her cancer."

"I was offering my condolences." Chloe sighed, looking down at her homework.

"I'm not grieving, though." Aubrey said impatiently, tapping her pencil on the table.

"Never mind" Chloe shook her head.

"I'm sorry that I've irritated you." Aubrey mumbled, glaring at the wall. "I'll try to be more consider-"

"It's okay."

Aubrey scowled when Chloe interrupted her, but didn't reply. She bent down and began working on an equation furiously. _She's still looking at me_ Aubrey thought, glancing up for a moment, just to check if she was right. _She is. I should say something. What do I say? Do I apologize? No. She got mad when I do that. STOP LOOKING AT ME!_

"Please don't look at me like that." Aubrey said calmly.

"I'm sorry." Chloe sighed, looking away. "I didn't mean to-"

"You have other friends." Aubrey stated quickly, only to receive a confused stare from the redhead. "I've counted, you have twenty seven that you speak to regularly, but fifty seven people greet you kindly every day. You have a lot to choose from, so you don't have deal with me."

"I _do _have other friends, yes." Chloe replied, putting her pencil down after finishing up her last problem. "And I don't _deal with _you, okay? If I didn't like being around you, I wouldn't hang out with you. Okay?"

"Okay." Aubrey nodded a little, fiddling with her pencil. "I'm sorry that I questioned our friendship."

Chloe sighed, but didn't reply. _I should say something._ Aubrey thought, tapping her pencil against her notebook and gnawing on the inside of her cheek _She looks sad. I made her sad. What's wrong with me? ... I could push down these bookshelves- _Aubrey shook her head, before putting her pencil down and looking at Chloe. The blonde waited for her friend's attention, before finally speaking. _  
_

"Are you upset?" She asked, biting her lip.

"No," Chloe laughed lightly, before shaking her head. "I'm not upset. I'm fine."

"Good." Aubrey smiled shyly, nodding a little. "I don't want you to be upset. I never want you to be anything but happy. You're my friend."

"Thanks, Bree." Chloe said, giving the blonde a grin.

"Why'd you call me that?"

"I'm sorry, I just-"

"I don't mind... It's okay... It's nice, actually."

"Oh, okay."

Aubrey smiled, before taking Chloe's homework and beginning to check it. Her glasses slipped down her nose, but she ignored them. They were irrelevant at that moment, she only wore them during lunch, but that was it. Chloe had taught her the merits of having eyesight during the day. For example, not running into people because she didn't have any depth perception, or actually being able to read the board and her papers. But Aubrey still believed in fair play and had down right refused to wear them during classes.

"You got them all right." Aubrey said, handing the notebook back to her friend. "Good job."

"Thanks." Chloe grinned, throwing down her notebook. "I am so done with math!"

"You're done." Aubrey agreed, laughing a little bit. "Definitely done. Until tomorrow."

"Nope." Chloe shook her head, leaning back in her chair. "Done forever, you can't stop me."

"Humans do have free will." Aubrey conceded, packing her things up.

"You're a dork." Chloe pointed out, her chair falling a little and causing her to lean forward quickly.

"Clearly _I'm _the dork in this friendship." Aubrey said dryly, raising an eyebrow.

"So I was thinking."

"Congratulations, would you like a cookie?"

"Don't be a dick. I was thinking that you should join the cross country team with me. They're still looking for new members and I-"

"No."

"Why not? It's running! You love running! Plus there are trees, you can count the spruces!"

"It's people _watching _me run. I hate people watching me run. And when we run, it's only us and we don't have a dirt path, with roots that I'll inevitably trip over and sprain my ankle. Then I'd be in crutches and I'll be slower than usual and it'll be wrong!"

"You're crazy."

"Genius is akin to insanity."

"And you're humble."

"Genius is being humble." Aubrey declared haughtily, putting her hands on her hips and puffing her chest out.

"Okay, Super Brain." Chloe rolled her eyes, but laughed. "Please think about it."

"I don't do sports." Aubrey stated, standing up and grabbing her things.

"They're good for your people building skills." Chloe could hardly keep a straight face after that statement.

"I'm sure." Aubrey looked up at the clock before taking her glasses off. "Time for Government. Have a nice afternoon."

Aubrey left the library five seconds before the bell rang. She quickly found her class, which was on the second floor and at the opposite end of the school from her locker, so Aubrey tended to both her A.P. government and her physics things with her. The class was taught by a short, but physically fit man with dark hair and tanned skin named Mr. Vander Hyde. Aubrey sat in the desk closest to the window, but still in the front row, she had discovered that it was the best spot to actually see the board on her third day of school. It was also close to where Mr. Vander Hyde stood, so she could hear him complain under his breath about how ironic it was that he had the stupidest kids in an A.P. class, which entertained her.

No matter how much Aubrey enjoyed the class, however, the blonde would never be able to get over the boy who sat next to her. He was a fellow senior by the name of Bumper Allen. Every time Aubrey saw him, she felt bile rise in her throat. He was the boy in the class that would talk back to the teacher, not take notes, but somehow get mad when he didn't receive an A. To make matters worse, Aubrey was always paired up with the boy for partner projects, which she usually did on her own, but while she wrote on the paper, the boy would only gripe about how his talent is being wasted at school. Aubrey still wasn't sure what his talent even was.

"What's up, Posen?" Bumper greeted, looking at Aubrey smugly.

Aubrey just rolled her eyes and sat down.

"You know," Bumper continued, ignoring Aubrey's eye roll. "It'd be really cool if you'd come out of your weird lala land with Chloe and actually stop being so creepy."

"Well, I seem to have one more friend than you do, Bumper." Aubrey replied, opening her notebook and not looking at the boy beside her. "Maybe it's because of your unbearable smell or the idiotic comments that you make during class. Though, it has been said that you're the kid who takes gym class too seriously, too. Which, I think is just adorable that you have so much passion for something that could be consider academic, though my sources say that you failed gym, too. That's just sad, Bumper."

The boy looked gobsmacked and the other kids that surrounded her all sniggered at the boy. Normally she didn't speak to her classmates, but for some reason, Bumper had finally gotten to her. Though she didn't feel bad about knocking him down a peg, even Mr. Vander Hyde laughed a little, but he masked it well. Aubrey allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction. _Wow, that felt good. _Aubrey thought once the teacher started his lesson. _I could throw the desk through the window..._


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Aubrey was just about to put her glasses back on and head home, when she heard a shrill yell of indignation, one that Chloe did whenever Aubrey told her that she was doing something wrong. The blonde sighed, putting her glasses on and grabbing her backpack, before walking outside to where she heard the shout. Bumper Allen and a couple of other boys were making lewd comments about Chloe being a redhead. Aubrey felt white hot anger fill her body as she approached the boy.

"What are you doing?" Aubrey demanded, scowling at Bumper.

"Where just teasing, it's no big deal." Bumper shrugged with a cackle.

"Bree, they do it all the time." Chloe rolled her eyes and gripping Aubrey's wrist, trying to pull her away.

"So, why don't you just go stare at a wall," Bumper sneered, making the blonde's hands shake. "Or whatever it is you do, Freak!"

Aubrey stayed silent, her face paling. _He knows_ Aubrey felt herself clam up _Thy all know. They all know. How do they know? Chloe told them, she told them everything-_ Aubrey pushed the thoughts out of her mind, Chloe would never do that to her, she promised that she wouldn't. The blonde balled her fists and tried not to shake. _I could hit him. I should hit him. _

"You're not a freak, Aubrey." Chloe murmured reassuringly, tugging Aubrey's wrist gently, trying to get her to leave. "C'mon."

"Wow, Fire Crotch is defending her girlfriend." Bumper cackled, making a couple people laugh. "You're both just a couple of dy-"

Aubrey saw red, her hands were shaking and her jaw was set. Before she knew it, her body had gained a mind of its own and the next thing she knew was that Bumper was on the ground and her knuckles hurt. There was blood flowing freely from the boy's nose, splattered on Aubrey's hand and all over the concrete. _I hit him_. Aubrey's eyes widened, she just hit someone, she never hit people. Ever. _I can't believe I hit him..._

"Holy shit!" A boy exclaimed, before dissolving into laughter. "You just punched Bumper!"

"Oh my god." Chloe muttered, pulling Aubrey away from the group by her wrist. "We need to ice your hand, Bree."

"I'd like to go home now, please?" Aubrey whimpered, her southern accent shining through due to stress.

"Okay." Chloe nodded, going to Aubrey's car. "I'm gonna let Jaime take my car home, can I have your keys?"

Aubrey nodded, handing over her keys and sliding into the passengers' seat. _I punched Bumper. Now I'm going to be suspended and my chances of going to a good college will plummet. _Aubrey let out a small whimper, before resting her forehead on the window, closing her eyes and trying to calm herself. Chloe started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, driving quickly down to Aubrey's home. _I punched Bumper._ It just kept repeating over and over in the blonde's mind, her breathing began to slow, before Chloe parked in Aubrey's driveway.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked, looking over at her friend.

"... I've never attacked anyone in my life." Aubrey mumbled, biting her lip. "I _hit _him! I can't believe I hit him! He was right, I am a freak. I-I- he knew, how did her know?"

"Bree," Chloe sighed, climbing out of the car, walking around and opening Aubrey's side. "You're not a freak, okay? How many friends does he have? None."

"I only have one!" The blonde countered, her breaths quickening. "I just punched a boy! He-he was- there was blood and I- my hand!" Aubrey lifted up her hand, showing off the oncoming bruise. "I-I need to ice this."

"Yeah, come on." Chloe pulled Aubrey into the house, thanking whatever deity above them that The Colonel wasn't home at that moment.

Aubrey sat down on the sofa and watched as Chloe entered the kitchen and grabbed an ice pack from the freezer. The cold stung at first, but it numbed the hand quickly, so Aubrey really couldn't complain. They sat in silence for a while, neither wanting to say the wrong thing. Aubrey eventually stopped shaking, but her face didn't regain any colour. _Say something. I punched someone in the face, I should say something._ Aubrey furrowed her brow, before looking over at her friend.

"I really just punched Bumper, didn't I?" She mumbled, letting out a little chuckle.

"Yeah, you did." Chloe laughed lightly, flipping the ice pack. "It was pretty cool. How'd it feel?"

"I don't even-" Aubrey stopped, trying to collect her thoughts. "It was weird. I-I stopped thinking and the next think I knew, he was on the ground. I mean... Wow. But, I have to apologise. Don't I?"

"Probably." Chloe sighed, her lips turning up slightly. "Thanks for defending me. You're a good friend."

"Really?"

"Of course, you dummy."

"Oh, I'm the dummy?"

"Yeah, sure you can do math, but how often will you do it in the real world?"

"I want to be a mathematician."

"Oh yeah, I take back my statement."

"Withdraw denied."

"Jerk!" Chloe laughed, pushing Aubrey's shoulder.

"You were mean first!" The blonde countered, standing up and looking around a little. "I punched a guy. Wait until I tell my dad..."

"Will he be mad?"

"I don't know... He never really got upset when Dan or Mike got into fights, so I suppose he won't be too upset with me."

"Oka-" Before Chloe could finish her sentence, The Colonel walked in.

The man took one glance at Aubrey before telling her to sit down. Aubrey told her father exactly what had happened, though she did leave out the part when she doubted Chloe's friendship, that would never be repeated. The Colonel calmly listened to everything that Aubrey had to say and didn't interrupt. His face remained stoic, but at least he wasn't angry. When Aubrey finished, The Colonel nodded a couple times before opening his mouth to speak.

"You punched someone." He said, looking surprised. "You... My daughter... Are you sure you punched him?"

"He was bleeding." Aubrey mumbled, holding up her now purple hand. "All over..."

"Well, you need to apologize tomorrow." The Colonel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And I don't know what to do... Don't hit people, no matter what they say, alright?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, now, on the other hand, I'm proud of you... for standing up for yourself, just try to be less violent..."

"Of course, sir."

"Good, now go on."

Aubrey nodded and she and Chloe left the room. They made their way up to Aubrey's room, where Chloe flopped on the bed and Aubrey sat in her chair. _Why wasn't he mad? _Aubrey wondered to herself, spinning around. _He seemed happy. Why was he happy? Is he a psychopath? No, that's ridiculous. Or is it? _Aubrey shook her head, before looking at Chloe, who was watching her sneakily. _She's looking at me. Why is she looking? Did I scare her? Oh, no! I scared her. _

"I scared you, didn't I?" Aubrey said, looking down at her feet. "I'm sorry-"

"I'm not afraid of you." Chloe sighed, biting her lip. "I'm just confused. You just- you never seemed violent, then you _punched _Bumper. I just... It's weird."

"I think about doing things like that a lot." Aubrey murmured, trying her hardest not to meet Chloe's eyes. "I usually think about hurting myself, but it's- it's stupid, why would I want to-"

"Maybe you should talk to someone about that..."

Aubrey sat there, silent for a moment. _She thinks I'm crazy. She thinks that I'm going to hurt her, she wants me gone. She wants me to go away. Why does she think I'm crazy, I don't do those things. I didn't even think about- _Aubrey's eyes widened. _I didn't even think about hitting Bumper. I am crazy! I'm a violent, crazy psychopath! I need to be stopped, I- what if I hurt Chloe? What's wrong with me? _

"Are you okay, Bree?" Chloe asked, standing up and putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You don't look-"

"I'll talk to someone." _She thinks I'm crazy. She hates me. _


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

The Colonel didn't seem surprised in the least when Aubrey sat him down. He listened when his daughter talked about her thoughts, how she could hardly get through one thought before another barreled its way in. She talked about wanting to throw herself from the window or punch the mirror, even about running her car off the road. She told him about yelling at herself and working out or doing math to stop the onslaught of ideas and numbers and criticisms that floated around her mind. Aubrey even told her father about the _thousands _of germs on a persons' hand at any time.

"Okay." Was all that he had said, picking up the phone. "I'll make an appointment."

The appointment came quickly and Aubrey found herself in the office of Dr. Burns. She wasn't quite sure what to say to him, opening up to her father was hard enough, now she was supposed to do the same for a man that she hadn't even met? On principle it just sounded completely and utterly idiotic, but if it meant that Chloe would stay her friend, then she'd do it. Aubrey bit her lip and surveyed the room. _I change my mind, I want to leave. But if I leave, Chloe will, too... Oh..._

So she told him. Just like her father, Dr. Burns listened intently, only he paused to jot down some notes on his clipboard. Aubrey struggled to tell the man everything, it was just strange. She usually avoided talking about thoughts and feelings on principle, and here she was for the third time in a week. It was weird for her. _What if he thinks I'm insane and I have to be institutionalized? _Aubrey asked herself as she finished and looked at her shoes. _He thinks I'm crazy... Maybe I am..._

"You're not crazy." The doctor stated, glancing at his notes. "Definitely not. Though you do seem to have high anxiety levels, so I'll need to write you a prescription. And, you'll need to learn some coping techniques to help aide the medication."

"Okay..." Aubrey let out a sigh of relief.

"Now, you'll need to check back in with me after a few weeks." Dr. Burns said, handing Aubrey a small slip of paper. "Because what works on some people might not work on others."

"Alright, sir." Aubrey nodded, standing up. "Thank you."

Dr. Burns opened the door for her and smiled at her when she left. Aubrey felt excited, she wasn't crazy, she was just tested. The blonde went to the pharmacy and filled the prescription right away, before heading home. She read the instructions on the bottle, telling her to take three pills a day with food. _Seems easy enough. _Aubrey thought, putting the bottle down on her bathroom counter, before sneaking a glance at herself in the mirror. The dark circles under her eyes had lightened since she had met Chloe and she looked less pale. Though that was definitely due to Chloe forcing her outside for more than the walk to and from her car and a run. Aubrey smiled a little, just thinking of her friend. She was so tempted to call her, to tell her that she was going to be better, but Aubrey knew that Chloe would rather see the finished product rather than the work in progress. Or at least, Aubrey would.

* * *

In the weeks that passed, Aubrey felt herself growing more and more tired. She fell asleep at odd times and she couldn't focus on anything. Her head felt like it was permanently stuffed with cotton and she couldn't do anything about it. The thoughts in Aubrey's mind didn't run into each other, they were barely even there anymore. Aubrey found herself sitting in the same position for six hours, just staring at the wall. She couldn't even do her math, the blackboards sat there, gathering dust.

"Are you listening?" Chloe asked one day, looking at her friend.

"There was an attempt." Aubrey replied honestly, trying to focus on the redhead in front of her. "But to be honest, I can't remember what you just said..."

"Are you okay?" Chloe sighed, moving from her bed to where Aubrey sat, surveying her pale face and empty eyes. "Have you been sleeping?"

"Excessively." The blonde yawned, rubbing her eyes. "It's all I've been doing lately. I..."

"You what?"

"What?"

"You started a sentence."

"Oh."

Chloe made a worried face, before feeling her friend's forehead. Aubrey didn't seem to care, or at least she didn't struggle, that was another thing that triggered Chloe's worry. Aubrey didn't seem to care about physical contact anymore, she allowed Chloe to hug her and even touch her face. The blonde just sat there, trying to focus on something. It didn't even matter what. She wasn't sure what she missed, she couldn't think long enough to know what was wrong.

"Are you sick?" Chloe asked, trying to get a better look at her friend's face. "You have bags under your eyes again, are you sure-"

"I've been sleeping." Aubrey mumbled, shaking her head to try and get the cloudiness out. "I just... I don't know..."

"Have you been eating?"

"I think so."

"What?"

"I sit down for a meal, then it's just... gone. So, either I eat it, or someone else does."

"I think you're sick."

"Okay."

"What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know."

"How can you not know?! You're you!" Chloe exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

"I'm sorry."

"What do you think is wrong?"

"I can't..."

"Can't what?"

"I can't think..." Aubrey looked at the floor, her brow furrowed, willing herself to break through the cloud that fogged her mind.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Dude, I don't own this... It's pretty cray how shit like that happens...**

* * *

In the weeks that passed, Aubrey found herself more and more tired. Her eyes and limbs felt heavier than ever and her body was numb most of the time. Her grades never suffered, but she wore her glasses every day in her classes. If she couldn't see, she couldn't even attempt to focus, if she couldn't even attempt to focus, she couldn't keep herself awake. It had gotten so bad that kids at school seemed to notice the changes, though they still avoided Aubrey at all costs after she punched Bumper, even though no one reported it, so she didn't get so much as a detention.

Thanksgiving came quickly and the youngest of Aubrey's brothers came home for the holiday. Aubrey couldn't help with the preparation of the meal, she just stared blankly at the fridge, her eyes unfocused. Her brothers were concerned, though Brad didn't know what to say at all, so they just exchanged confused looks and tried to prompt their sister to talk to them.

"Hey, kid." Josh, the third youngest of the family, said, entering Aubrey's bedroom.

"... Hi." Aubrey didn't look up from her homework, which was already finished.

"How's it going?" Josh sat beside his sister on her bed.

Aubrey shrugged, allowing her pencil to slip from her hand.

"Dad says that you made a friend. That's great, wanna tell me about it?"

"Her name is Chloe and she's pretty nice."

"That's good." Josh nodded, pausing, as if he were trying to find the right words. "... We're worried about you, kid. You're just.. you're not _you _anymore. Are you okay?"

"I... stopped listening." Aubrey said honestly, looking up at her brother. "... What was that?"

"Are you okay?"

"I feel... fine."

"Liar, what's wrong with you?"

"I can't... I'm not... Foggy. Yeah... foggy, I feel foggy. Like... there's a cloud in my head. So, cloudy..."

"Are you on drugs?""

"I don't... I have no interest in illegal narcotics..."

"Are you sick?"

"... No."

"You're not the same." Josh mumbled, looking away from his sister. "You're not even my little sister anymore. You're a stranger."

"I'm sorry." Was all Aubrey said, now staring intently at the wall.

"Whatever." Josh stood and exited the room, leaving Aubrey alone.

Time seemed to speed up when she was alone, either that or she slowed down. Aubrey looked at her clock and noticed that she had been in her room for six hours, it had been five since Josh left. Aubrey blinked and walked slowly to her bathroom, it was time for her pill. Or at least that's what the schedule told her and she couldn't miss her pills. The blonde could already feel her mind unclouding, when it wasn't cloudy, she had her thoughts back and they were the problem.

"Bree?" Chloe's voice rang out from her bedroom. "Where are you?"

"... Here." Was all Aubrey could force out before Chloe entered.

The redhead seemed tired and upset. Her face was pinched with worry and her hair was up in a haphazard bun. Even Aubrey could tell that there was something wrong with her friend.

"What are those?" Chloe asked, looking pointedly at the pill bottle.

"My medication." Aubrey replied, putting one in her hand. "Three times a day, every day."

"Is that-" Chloe stopped herself before grabbing Aubrey's wrist before she could take the pill. "That's what's making you weird-"

"It's making be... normal." Aubrey clarified, not struggling when Chloe dumped the pill back in its bottle.

"No, it's not." Chloe snapped, pocketing the pill bottle. "It's making you sick! You're not Aubrey anymore! You're just a shell."

"I'm better." Was all Aubrey could say.

"No you're not!" Chloe shouted, shoving Aubrey's shoulder roughly. "You're not better! You're not my friend anymore."

"I'm sorry." The blonde muttered, looking down at her friend, trying to focus on her face. Her eyes were red, was she about to cry? _She shouldn't cry._

"Stop being sorry!" Chloe continued to shove her friend "I want my friend back!"

"You-"

"I want the stupidest genius in the world! I want to hear you rant about germs and watch you work on your stupid board! You need to come back!"

"I-"

"We're all worried about you! You just sit and stare at the wall! Even the kids at school are scared! _Bumper_ is concerned!"

Chloe was in tears when she finished, her face bright red and body trembling. Aubrey gently patted her friend's shoulder, biting her lip a little, unsure of what to do. Chloe chuckled despite herself, wrapping her arms around the blonde's body, pulling her close. The redhead's tears seeped through the thin fabric of Aubrey's t-shirt, causing the blonde to frown a little. _Chloe shouldn't cry..._

"I want my friend back." Chloe whimpered, pulling tighter. "I need to tell her somethi-"

Before Aubrey heard the last of Chloe's sentence, everything finally snapped back into place. The fog was cleared away, Aubrey felt her thoughts fly around quickly, running into each other and whizzing by. Her limbs felt less heavy, her body less numb. She glanced down at the redhead and with a small scowl at the tear stain on her shirt, pulled away a little.

"That's enough." Aubrey sighed, prying Chloe's arms off of her.

"Bree?" Chloe gasped, new tears threatening as she looked at her friend. "You're back?!"

"Did you- you didn't wash your hands did you?" Aubrey grumbled, ignoring the redhead's question and moving to her sink, where she began to wash her hands. "I know that I've told you how many germs rest on a human's hand at any given time. But do you ever listen to me? No!"

"Five thousand!" Chloe cried, hugging Aubrey from behind. "There are five thousand germs!"

"Well, at least I know you _listen_." Aubrey rolled her eyes, but didn't move away. "Now, can you _comprehend_?"

"I missed you so much!" Chloe sighed, ignoring her friend's snide remark.

"I never left." Aubrey replied, hobbling into her bedroom with Chloe still latched onto her. "Please let go."

"No." Chloe shook her head, squeezing tighter. "Not until you promise to never take those pills again."

"Fine, I promise."

"Good."

"Now let go!"

"Just a little longer."

"I'm willing to bite my own arms off."

"You're disgusting!"

"You're clingy." Aubrey retorted, while Chloe let go. "Now, why are you being so weird? I wasn't doing anything stupid, I was taking my medication, as prescribed."

"It made you wrong." Chloe mumbled, tears filling her eyes again. "You couldn't think, or finish a sentence, you didn't do anything but sleep and stare at things, but then you'd keep saying that everything was foggy."

"It was." Aubrey nodded, her brow furrowed. "Did I really just sit and sta-"

"It was scary as hell, Bree!" Chloe exclaimed, tackling her friend into another hug. "You were gone and I-I was so scared and I thought you were dying and-"

"It's okay." Aubrey murmured, gently rubbing Chloe's back. "I promise not to scare you again... I'm sorry."

"Good."

_She said that she had to tell me something. What was it?_ "You said that you needed to tell me something, before you freaked out and hugged me. What was it?"

"Nothing." Chloe turned bright red. "It was nothing."

"No, for serious." Aubrey sighed, pulling away. "What was it? It seemed important."

Before Aubrey could speak again, she felt a pair of warm lips on her own. Her body froze, it was Chloe. Chloe was kissing her. Chloe was her first kiss. _CHLOE IS KISSING ME! WHAT DO I DO? WHAT DO I DO? DO I KISS BACK? HOW DO I KISS?_ Aubrey awkwardly put her hands on Chloe's waist, before tilting her head slightly, inadvertently deepening the kiss. Her cheeks burned bright when she pulled away, her lips tingled, and she felt all warm. _This was pleasant. Do I tell her? No, that's what a man says to his prostitute. How do I know that?_

"I-" Aubrey stopped herself, before starting again. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

"I like you, you big jerk." Chloe mumbled, gently shoving Aubrey's shoulder.

"Oh." _That was certainly a strange turn of events..._


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

"Well that was different." Aubrey said, sitting on her bed and looking up at the redhead. "I was under the impression that kissing wasn't a platonic activity."

"It's not." Chloe mumbled, shifting her weight awkwardly.

"I don't understand..." Aubrey furrowed her brow. _If kissing isn't platonic and Chloe kissed me... She said that she liked me. In a romantic way? As in a crush? Chloe has a crush on me?_

"I like you." Chloe sighed, sitting beside her friend on the bed. "As in, I like you, _like you_."

"Like you want to date me?"

"You could say that."

"Oh. That's strange."

"What?" Chloe asked, looking over to the blonde, confusion written all over her face.

"You exhibited little to no signs of feeling more than platonic feelings." Aubrey said, feeling her cheeks burn. "And also, I don't know if I want to date you. Is that bad?"

"No, it's not bad." Chloe sighed, shaking her head with a chuckle.

"How do I know if I want to date you?"

"Did you like kissing me?"

"..." Aubrey bit her lip, her blush deepening. "... Yes."

"Well," Chloe smiled, pecking the blonde's lips. "Did you like that, too?"

"Yes." Aubrey nodded, shifting slightly closer to the redhead. "Does that mean that I like you, too?"

"Probably." Chloe shrugged, glancing at Aubrey through the corner of her eye. "Do you like talking to me?"

"Of course."

"Good."

"Does that mean that dating is just friendship with kissing?"

"No, we'd go on dates."

"Like to dinner?"

"Yeah, stuff like that."

"Okay..." Aubrey stood up and looked down at Chloe, taking the redhead's hands in her own. "Would you like to go on a date? With me, that is?"

"Are you sure?" Chloe asked, looking dubious.

"It'll be like a beta-test." Aubrey said, her eyes meeting Chloe's blue ones. "If it doesn't work out, then we're still friends right? Just... without the kissing and dates, I suppose..."

"You're really out of your element here, huh?" Chloe laughed, standing up. "But, yes, I will go on a date with you."

"Thank you." Aubrey smiled shyly. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at eight. Also, it's our first date, so I will be expecting you to wear something nice. If we have a second one, I highly doubt I'll care, but apparently the first date is the first impression. Though, that makes no sense, because I've already met you and we've had dinner before."

"You're rambling." Chloe mumbled, kissing the blonde swiftly. "It's cute."

Aubrey's smile widened, while Chloe wrapped her arms around her waist. It felt weird being so close to a person like that, Aubrey didn't know what she was supposed to be doing, Aubrey awkwardly placed her hands on Chloe's hips and looked down at the redhead. _She's so pretty. And I'm allowed to kiss her. _Aubrey laughed a little bit, only enough for Chloe to shook her a confused look.

"I'm allowed to kiss you." Aubrey explained, licking her lips.

"Hmm," Chloe pulled away teasingly. "I don't just kiss _anyone_. I only kiss people who I'm dating."

"Well, we're going on a date-"

"But not dating."

"So date me... please?"

"You're an idiot." Chloe laughed, pulling away completely. "But... Okay. I'll date you."

"Good." Aubrey nodded. "I've never dated anyone, before."

"I can tell."

"So that means that you're going to have to tutor me on these matters."

"Oh really?"

"You've dated people."

"I've had boyfriends, yes."

"So, you're the expert in our group, so, you need to teach the least experienced how to go about doing this whole dating ritual."

"You're such a dork." Chloe said, taking Aubrey's hand in her own. "You don't have-"

"I know," Aubrey replied quickly, looking at her blackboards. "I want to. Why wouldn't I want to? You're beautiful, funny, cute, smart, not as smart as I am, but you can hold a conversation with me. You're amazing."

"Stop that." Chloe's cheeks turned bright red. "You're-"

"How long has it been since this has been properly cleaned?" Aubrey asked, walking over to the boards. "I'm going to guess-"

"A month." Chloe said quickly. "The last time I saw you do it was a month ago."

"That's just sad." Aubrey shook her head mournfully and looking at the unfinished equation. "What was I thinking whe- Oh, I'm sorry, the mess is distracting. So, we were dating and I was what?"

"A dork." Chloe laughed, kissing Aubrey's cheek. "You're a dork."

"I suppose that you'll want to work out some rules?"

"What?"

"Well, do you want to tell people? And even then, by people do we only mean parents? Or do the children at school get the privilege of knowing about our courtship?"

"I don't know, what are you comfortable with?"

"I don't mind telling anyone. My dad is very accepting of homosexuals. Though, I highly doubt that I'm a homosexual, I've only ever been attracted to you. Though, I suppose that since you _are_ a female and I never _really_ found males attractive, I am a homosexual..."

"Well, okay, then. Your dad will be the first to know."

"What about your parents?"

"They won't care, I'm pretty sure my uncle Brian is gay."

"Well, that's a relief." Aubrey had stopped listening at 'they won't care.' "I don't suppose you have any qualms about those ingrates at school knowing?"

"I-"

"I don't want boys thinking that it's okay to flirt with you. You're mine."

"Possessive, aren't we?"

"I've seen enough films to know that it's attractive to people when their significant other is possessive. Though, most of the time, possessiveness id coupled by sexual encounters and it's not socially acceptable for one to engage in those acts before a third date, let alone before the _first_."

"Oh... okay."

"Thank you." Aubrey kissed Chloe again. "Did you know that kissing spreads less germs than handshaking?"

"No," Chloe shook her head. "But, I'll bet that you like this greeting better, just for that reason."

"It also makes my stomach fill with little creatures-"

"Butterflies."

"What?"

"You're thinking of having butterflies in your stomach, that's the tingling that you feel in your guts."

"Insects in my guts. Ew. Well at least I don't have an amphibian in my trachea."

"What?"

"Frog in my throat."

"Oh," Chloe shoved Aubrey's shoulder, lowering her voice. "I missed you."

"I'm sorry." Aubrey sighed, turning to look at the redhead. "Would you like to stay for dinner? I'm sure my dad and brothers would love to meet you."

"You're funny." Chloe rolled her eyes, pecking Aubrey's cheek.

"I like this..."

"I know you do."

"I'm hungry." Aubrey turned toward the door and began to walk toward the door. "Seriously, are you staying for dinner, because my dad hates it when you don't eat with him and I'd hate to have your first impression on him to be of you turning down an offer for dinner-" Aubrey surveyed the redhead's appearance "Though, you might- you look like you haven't worn pants all Thanksgiving break and now you're just confused so you put on the first pair of sweatpants that you could find... You have some clothes in my closet, if you want. I don't care, it's just so you don't feel self conscience around my family."

"Thank you." Chloe laughed, moving to Aubrey's closet. "I'll get changed, then."

"Okay." Aubrey nodded, sitting on her desk chair. "I'll wait, you go to the bathroom, I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to see you with your top off before the third date."

"Where did you learn all this?"

"Mike liked Rom coms and apparently all girls need to watch rom coms. Those are romantic comedies."

"Thank you for the information."


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Seven fifty-two. That was when Aubrey pulled up to Chloe's house. It left them enough time to talk with Chloe's, extremely talkative, family. Aubrey sighed, parking the car. _Okay, step one, get in. Step two, talk to the Beales and hope that Jaime doesn't shoot me with a- doesn't Chloe have another brother? Oh no, I didn't plan for another brother. At least her sister isn't home. What if Chloe has another sister? No, stick to the plan! Step three, leave. Step four, date with sub-steps A through F. Step five, kiss on the stoop. _Aubrey grinned and climbed out of the car, before straightening her dress and grabbing the orange roses that she had bought Chloe, mostly because they matched her hair. Aubrey had it in the back of her closet for almost a year, ever since she was invited to the Academic Decathlon back when her family lived in Chicago. It was such a shame that Aubrey moved before she got a chance to compete.

The blonde shook her head and walked up to the door, knocking only twice, before Jaime, Chloe's younger brother, answered. Jaime was sixteen and only slightly taller than Aubrey was, his hair was bright red and shaggy, all Aubrey ever wanted to do was comb it. _No, that would leave a bad impression, then I won't be able to take Chloe out... or kiss her. _Aubrey smiled pleasantly when Jaime let her in, before she was shown to the living room, where Chloe's father, Stephen, was waiting.

"Chloe'll be down in like five minutes." Jaime mumbled, walking up stairs. "Freakin' crazy, she gets prettier girls than I do-"

"Ignore him." Stephen sighed, rolling his eyes at his son. "He's just jealous of his sister. Please sit."

"I see that." Aubrey replied, following the man's request.

"You know, Aubrey," Stephen continued, keeping his voice light and breezy. "Since Chloe's met you, she's stopped seeing _certain_-"

"Douchebags!" Jaime shouted from the stairs.

"Ignore him." Stephen repeated, a small smile forming at the corner of his mouth. "But he's right. Now, my question is, what are your intentions with my daughter?"

"I-" Aubrey paused with her brow furrowed. _What on earth does that even mean?_ "I intend on taking her on a date and then taking her home. I believe that's what I'm supposed to do as the person who scheduled the date... Though, I believe that what you're asking is whether or not I have any sexual intentions for tonight, which no, I don't have. I've also been reading and have found that it's common for parents to set a curfew for their children and seeing as though when Chloe and I were in a platonic relationship, that curfew was midnight, I'm going to assume that you want her home earlier than that, so would ten thirty to eleven be acceptable, sir?"

"Uh..." Stephen's eyes were wide as he tried to process all of what Aubrey had said. "That sounds perfectly fine, Aubrey."

"Thank you, sir." The blonde replied, turning a little when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

It was Chloe, her hair was curled immaculately and she wore a dark blue dress that was cut just above her knees. Aubrey's mouth went dry at the sight of her. Standing up, the blonde grabbed the flowers and tried to control the blush that was spreading over her cheeks. The moment Chloe made it to the bottom step, Aubrey thrust her arm out, handing the flowers over awkwardly. Chloe made an excited noise, grabbing the flowers happily.

"They match your hair." Aubrey stated, making the others around them laugh. "I-uh-I thought you'd like them."

"I love them, Bree." Chloe handed the flowers to her mother, before engulfing Aubrey into a hug. "Thank you."

"W-we should go." Aubrey mumbled, pulling away awkwardly and heading toward the door. "I don't like being late."

"Of course," Chloe rolled her eyes and followed, giving her parents a small grin.

"It's customary for me to open the passenger door for you, right?" Aubrey asked, opening the car door.

"How'd you learn that?" Chloe laughed, getting in the car.

"I asked my brothers what to do." The blonde mumbled, climbing into her own seat and starting the car. "Except, I'm not going to try to feel your breasts-"

"Your brothers are jerks."

"I know... They used to duct tape me to the walls."

"That's horrible. Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"It's not a memory that I'd want to relive." Aubrey replied easily, not taking her eyes off the road as she drove. "You know, the good thing about living in Atlanta is that there are so many possibilities for dates. I've decided that if we have a second one, I'm taking you to the aquarium."

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, hmm?" Chloe teased, looking out the window. "We might have to go back to being friends, for all I know, you're a terrible date-"

"It's likely that I am." Aubrey said, her voice cracking. "Please don't-"

"I'm just kidding." Chloe replied quickly, immediately turning to look at the blonde. "It was just a joke. Nothing more, okay? I didn't mean to-"

Chloe stopped at the sight of Aubrey's little smirk, her jaw dropped. "You just punk'd me, didn't you?"

"A little bit, yes." Aubrey nodded, looking at Chloe from the corner of her eye. "Please don't-"

"You jerk." Chloe laughed, slapping Aubrey's shoulder. "You had me so scared you- you're mean."

"Only a little." Was all the blonde said as she parked her car. "You like Italian right? Not the people, because that would be cannibalism, and I can honestly say that I do not condone it."

"Yes, I like Italian food." Chloe nodded, trying not to laugh. "No, I don't like to eat the people."

"Good, I prefer not to court cannibals." Aubrey replied, climbing out and opening Chloe's door. "There wouldn't really be a sense of trust when we'd kiss."

"You're right."

"I know."

Aubrey led Chloe into the restaurant and they were seated quickly, Aubrey even pulled out Chloe's chair for her. She couldn't wipe the smile from her face, the redhead was just so beautiful. Aubrey wasn't very good at making conversation at first, her eyes trained on her plate in front of her as Chloe talked. She listened, however, always listened, Chloe always had something to say. The redhead was interesting to say the least.

"You're not too bad at this." Chloe said, lightly poking Aubrey with her fork. "It's kind of cute."

"Thank you." Aubrey smiled, taking a bite of her pasta. "And since we're complementing each other, you're beautiful."

"Dork." Chloe snorted, her cheeks reddening. "Thank you."

The date continued with Aubrey trying very hard not to ruin it, though Chloe would have to assure that she was doing well. Aubrey had never felt so happy in her entire life, she felt almost all of her stress leave her when Chloe would take her hand from across the table, or gently kiss her cheek before they left the restaurant. The blonde knew that her face was bright red, but she didn't care, she was with Chloe. _Okay, so steps one through four have been met, now I need to finish step five._

The drive back to Chloe's house was enjoyable, though Aubrey felt disappointed, she didn't want the night to end. It was too perfect, Chloe was too perfect. How could someone like Aubrey even deserve someone like Chloe? It was just so baffling, but the blonde would never protest. If Chloe wanted to be with her, who was she to question the redhead's actions? It only benefited her.

"I had fun tonight." Chloe said as Aubrey walked her to the door.

"So did I." Aubrey nodded, biting her lower lip. "I-um I think we should do it again sometime..."

"Yeah." Chloe smiled, gently pecking Aubrey's lips. "There. The perfect first date, made even better by Aubrey Posen. Thank you."

Aubrey just grinned watching as Chloe entered her home. _Best night ever! And we're doing it again! Then we get to kiss some more and have more fun and we'll be so happy! _Aubrey's smile widened as she walked to her car. _Yeah, it'll be great._


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

* * *

It had been a week since their first date and Aubrey couldn't be happier. In addition to gaining a girlfriend, she had went back to Dr. Burns and had received a new medication, which actually did make her feel calmer. Aubrey didn't mind bumping into people that much, though she did think about the germs every so often. Chloe was supportive, but dubious, she had seen Aubrey when her medication wasn't working well and she didn't want to see that again. It didn't bother Aubrey that Chloe was watching her closely, however, she knew, or at least tried to relate to, how Chloe had felt during the weeks that Aubrey couldn't think, or as Chloe had affectionately called them 'The Dim Ages.'

"Wait, the discrete math class is on this end of the school?" Aubrey mumbled while she walked Chloe to her first period. "I didn't know that."

"Oh, finally something that you don't know!" Chloe laughed, taking Aubrey's hand in her own. "I knew you weren't a robot!"

Aubrey just rolled her eyes and continued walking.

"You have a free period, right?" Chloe asked, tugging Aubrey a little closer to her.

"Yes, A.P calculus is a flexible attendance class-"

"You should come to discrete with me!"

"Why on earth would I want to do that?"

"Because you'd be able to spend more time with me..."

"Your teacher would be upset."

"Stevens doesn't care."

"How-"

"People visit all the time."

"He doesn't know me." Aubrey sighed, entering Chloe's classroom and putting her books on the front desk.

"Thanks." Chloe pressed a kiss to Aubrey's cheeks, picking her things up off of the desk and moving to the very middle desk. "And it doesn't matter, I'll bet that he's heard of the crazy girl genius! He'll probably just geek out when he sees you."

"I highly doubt that I'm that amazing." Aubrey replied, sitting beside Chloe.

"Are you sick?" Chloe teased, grabbing a hold of Aubrey's face and pressing her hand on the blonde's forehead. "Oh, you are, I'm afraid you've caught something we humans call humility."

"You think you're funny but you're not." Aubrey deadpanned, pulling away swiftly.

"Oh, don't be a sourpuss." Chloe flicked Aubrey's nose and leaned back in her seat. "Besides, I'm hilarious."

Aubrey raised an eyebrow and shook her head, of course Chloe would be that stubborn. _She's not even that funny..._

"So, you're gonna stay?" The redhead asked, looking excited.

"I can't see why not..." Aubrey sighed, propping her head on her hand and looking at the board. "Other than the obvious reasons that you've decided to ignore."

"Have I ever told you to shut up?"

"Sixty-seven times since we've met."

"Of course you've counted."

"That surprises you?"

"Not re-"

"Wow, looks like fire-crotch and the cyborg really are an item." Both girls rolled her eyes when Bumper Allen swaggered in. "And here I thought it was all a rumour."

"But alas." Aubrey replied, not looking up at the boy. "Tis true. I get more girls than you do."

"Wow, Posen, someone got rid of her crazy." Bumper said, sitting down beside the girls. "And replaced it with bitch."

"Shut up, Bumper." Chloe snapped, glaring at the boy. "Because this time, it'll be my turn to punch you, and I won't be aiming for your nose..."

Bumper blanched at Chloe's words and moved away from them. Aubrey turned a little, flashing the redhead a grin, before the teacher walked in. He didn't seem to even notice Aubrey's presence, let alone get annoyed at her when she answered the questions that no one else seemed to be able to answer. The blonde would send a sideways glance every few minutes toward Chloe, only to try to suppress a chuckle at the sight of her girlfriend almost falling asleep. Aubrey leaned over slightly and gently tugged the desk, causing Chloe to jolt up.

"Dick." Chloe grumbled, sitting back in her seat. "That was evil."

"A little bit, but pay attention." Aubrey whispered, gesturing toward the board. "This is why your grade isn't very high."

Before Chloe can reply, the bell rang. Aubrey grabbed Chloe's things and began to walk out of the room, only to have Chloe grab her hand. They walked down the hall together, though Aubrey could tell that people were watching, most of them were being sneaky and glancing out of the corner of their eyes, but the blonde definitely saw a boy get smacked by his girlfriend for gawking. _They're watching us... _Chloe seemed to be able to sense Aubrey's discomfort and smiled up at her. Aubrey couldn't help but smile back.

"I'll see you after Culinary, okay?" Chloe said, pecking Aubrey's lips when the blonde put her things back into her locker.

"I don't understand why you even bother with that class." Aubrey replied, frowning a little. "All it accomplishes is making you smell like food every Thursday."

"Well, you're welcome to visit-"

"You know that I have Human Physiology."

"People need to eat."

"I realize that, am I supposed to write an essay on why people eat, now?"

"Yes."

"It'd be pretty short." Was all Aubrey said, before kissing her girlfriend lightly. "Now go learn something."

"You, too." Chloe laughed, pulling away and walking the opposite direction as Aubrey.

Aubrey turned and began to walk to her class. Without Chloe, no one even glanced at her, it was definitely a plus. The blonde walked swiftly, trying to avoid any idiots who would try to do something stupid. Sadly, Aubrey's class was on the other end of the school, making it hard for her to avoid everyone. Just before she made it to the classroom, Aubrey felt someone collide with her left side, forcing her to stumble and smash into the lockers beside her. Aubrey looked over at the culprit, a large boy with a stupid grin on his face, the blonde rolled her eyes at him, only to be pushed back into the lockers.

"You're very funny." Aubrey deadpanned, straightening up and grabbing her things off the ground. "So much so, that I feel the need to congratulate you. Good job, you discovered Newton's First Law-"

"Shut up, dyke." The boy snapped, pushing Aubrey again.

"Original, tell me, did your parents teach you that?" Aubrey replied, moving swiftly when the boy lunged again. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go to class, because my education isn't just a show I put on before I'm spending the rest of my life either in prison or dragging rocks."

With that, Aubrey walked away quickly, leaving the boy to contemplate what she had just said. The blonde sat down in her seat, next to a girl who liked to be called Fat Amy. Aubrey didn't understand why she actually enjoyed being called fat, it just didn't make sense, no one wants their flaws to be broadcasted. It'd be like everyone calling her Freak Aubrey.

"So, you and the ginger..." Amy said, putting her things on the desk.

"Yeah." Aubrey nodded, pulling out her notebook.

"You look nice together."

"Thank you."

"Is she secretly stealing your soul?"

"Nope."

"Well, that's good, who would I copy off if you were an empty shell?"

"You'd have to study."

"Studying is for chumps."

"Probably."

"You just called yourself a chump."

"I don't study, I have better things to do."

"Like your ginger."

"N-no!" Aubrey's eyes went wide and her face turned bright red.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Wow, we've come so far and I still own nothing, fuck...**

* * *

"There's a difference between sine and cosine." Aubrey said, not even looking at Chloe's homework when the redhead tried to show it to her. "I'm not even checking it until you set it all up right."

"Come oooon!" Chloe whined, throwing herself over Aubrey's lap in exasperation. "I've been working for hours! Please look at it?"

"No." Aubrey replied, adjusting her glasses to focus on the documentary that she was currently watching. "It's literally been fifteen minutes, for one. And two, you need to get an A on your next test and I promised your mother that I'd help you. Now, fix your work or I won't look at it. I can't just feed you answers Chl-"

Aubrey's phone began ringing, surprising both of the girls. No one but Chloe ever called Aubrey, it just wasn't done. No one even knew her phone number other than her father, and The Colonel didn't like phones that much, he always delivered any important messages to his daughter face to face. Aubrey picked up her phone cautiously before answering.

"This is Aubrey Posen." She greeted formally, making Chloe roll her eyes.

_"Wow, they were right, hi Aubrey!" _It was Fat Amy, or at least that was what Aubrey thought. _"It's Fat Amy."_

"Amy, how did you get my number?" Aubrey asked, raising her eyebrow toward Chloe.

_"That's not important." _Fat Amy replied with a laugh. _"I need your brain."_

"I think that it's very important to know where you got my number from." Aubrey said, fighting Chloe a little when the redhead tried to put the phone on speaker. "For serious, where did you get it?"

_"I asked around." _Was all Amy said. _"Now, I need help with a math problem and I figured that you were the only one who could help me." _

"Amy-"

_"We're friends aren't we?"_

"No-"

_"I don't call people who aren't my friend-"_

"You're insane!"

_"Please just help me with math."_

"Fine." Aubrey took in a deep breath and looked at Chloe, who seemed to be trying to hold back laughter. "You did this?" Aubrey snarled, covering the mouthpiece.

"I might have said something." Chloe said innocently.

"I hate you." Aubrey grumbled, pouting when Chloe pressed a kiss to her cheek.

Aubrey listened to Amy's math questions and cut her off halfway through with the answers, she really wasn't in the mood to do anything but watch a documentary on Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann, but no, she was stuck helping Fat Amy with her homework and swatting Chloe's faulty homework out of her face. Amy eventually hung up, giving Aubrey enough time to snatch Chloe's notebook away and grade the papers, her irritation causing her to just put a huge 'x' through the whole paper. _She did everything wrong, she literally failed at everything on this assignment_. Chloe frowned a little, but laughed it off, she really didn't care about math, anyway.

"That was really helpful, Bree." Chloe grumbled, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Thank you so much."

"I sense sarcasm." Aubrey replied, looking back to her documentary. "But I graded your homework, congratulations, you got a 'you did it.' If I carried gold stars with me, I'd give you one."

"You've turned into quite the sasshole." Chloe said in a falsely cheerful voice. "Now, will you _please_ help me with my homework. I really do want to learn."

Aubrey sighed and paused her film, causing Chloe to grin widely. The blonde rolled her eyes and began explaining everything, she knew that Chloe needed to actually pay attention in class, she couldn't always rely on Aubrey for the answers and lessons. Aubrey really didn't have the time to do it most nights. Especially since her teachers began assigning her extra homework, though Aubrey could hardly complain, she didn't mind the busy work, she just didn't need them anymore.

"So, I need to talk to you." Chloe said eventually.

"If this is to break up, at least let me finish correcting you." Aubrey replied, not looking up.

"No." Chloe shook her head, looking around Aubrey's living room. "The winter formal is coming up and... I kind of wanted to go with my girlfriend..."

"And you felt the need to phrase it like a breakup because?"

"You don't like to go to social... events."

"Does it mean a lot to you?"

"What?"

"Would my going mean a lot to you?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Okay then." Aubrey kissed Chloe swiftly. "We can go dress shopping tomorrow."

"It's not for another two weeks." Chloe replied, tossing her notebook into her backpack.

"But planning is important." Aubrey said, taking off her glasses. "And do you really want to wait until the last minute and then not be able to find a dress because of poor planning? Then you'd have to show up in pants. And you don't need that. Especially since it's apparently a lesbian stereotype to wear pants to occasions that require dresses. And, yes, we've established your bisexuality, but to be honest, I highly doubt anyone in our peer group really cares about the proper nomenclature of how you identify sexualy."

"Okay, we'll go on Saturday." Chloe put her hands up in surrender. "You're getting really good at persuasion."

"I know." Aubrey smiled, allowing Chloe to kiss her cheek. "Now, please, can I watch my movie?"

"It's boring as shit, Bree." The redhead whined, flopping back onto Aubrey's lap. "You can't possibly be entertained by that, can you?"

"It's interesting." Aubrey replied impatiently. "Remember when you made me watch every single _Halloween _movie? And then I had to double check the doors because you were afraid that a masked killer was going to kill us in our sleep? Or was that a hallucination?"

"You liked them!"

"Liking and tolerating are different."

"Not for you!"

"I like you, but I tolerate your stubbornness."

"That's-"

"I like you, but I tolerate Amy."

"I like you, but I tolerate you cutting me off."

"See?"

"You're a jerk."

"You say that so much, it's beginning to lose meaning."

"Jerk."

"See?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, like at all.**

**A/N: So, my little sister, who has been reading this fic with dedication, has requested a chapter that follows Chloe more, so I, being the doting sister that I am, have given in to her wishes. Whoot.**

* * *

"Okay, so if I pretend to be sick, will you drive me home?" Chloe asked, shutting Aubrey's locker when she approached the blonde.

"No." Aubrey replied, looking confused. "Do you have a test?"

"No." Chloe sighed, leaning on the lockers. "I have to do a stats-y thing in discrete..."

"And?" Aubrey raised an eyebrow, beginning her walk to her calculus class.

"We have to walk around the school and ask them the scientific name for a football shape."

"Prolate Spheroid."

"And the scientific name for polar bears."

"Ursus Maritimus."

"You're so weird, how do you-" Aubrey just raised an eyebrow, making Chloe cut herself off and sigh. "Oh yeah, you know everything!"

"Not nearly." Aubrey replied, entering her classroom and putting her books on her desk. "There's a great deal of things that I _don't _know."

"Oh?" Chloe leaned on the desk, looking Aubrey in the eyes. "Like what?"

"Like your mother's maiden name."

"That's not good enough."

"The launch codes for the United States nuclear warheads."

"You'd figure it out."

"I can't speak Japanese or Finnish."

"I need more proof, right now I'm dating a cyborg."

"I don't know why I deal with you."

Chloe just rolled her eyes and watched as Aubrey took her seat, once Aubrey sat down in a desk, she was done paying attention to anything other than her current subject that she was studying. The redhead moved off of her girlfriend's desk and left the room, trying to remember the answers to the questions that she had to ask. It wasn't that hard if she muttered them under her breath, but then again, Chloe honestly was not in the mood to have people turn around and ask if she was talking to them. Yeah, she had that issue a lot when she needed to remember something.

"Prolate Spheroid. Ursus Maritimus." Chloe chanted when the words threatened to leave her mind, God she wished that she had Aubrey's brain sometimes. "Prolate Spheroid. Ursus Maritimus. Prolate Spheroid. Ursus Maritimus. Prolate Spher- Whoa!"

Chloe stumbled back a few steps when she collided with a poor little Freshman boy. The boy looked up at Chloe, confusion and regret written on his face, yup, he knew that Chloe was a Senior. Chloe's high school was notorious for Freshmen Hazing, it was obvious that this boy had been subjected to some kind of punishment, if Chloe had to guess, she'd say that he was made to push a quarter all the way around the school with his nose. The redhead rolled her eyes at the age related punishments, before offering her hand to the boy, helping him up, and moving to leave.

It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to him, Chloe met her girlfriend in a hallway collision, it was just that she couldn't be late for class. Chloe was pretty sure that if she was tardy one more time, she'd get a detention. It wasn't that Chloe was lazy and skipped, she just had a tendency to get sidetracked, like Aubrey had a one track mind and focussed on her goals, Chloe liked to look around. Anyone who knew Chloe, knew that the redhead liked to think, which shouldn't be a crime in school, in Chloe's opinion. Sadly, however, Chloe's opinion isn't taken into account for the school's tardy policy, so the ginger had to hurry to class.

"Oops!" Chloe felt herself collide with the lockers. "I didn't see you there."

"Hello, Matt." Chloe sighed, pulling her things to her chest and glaring at a burly, brown haired boy. "What do you need?"

"I just wanted to know if dykes had feelings, did that hurt?" Matt laughed, looking down the hall.

"I guess we do, I just need to go-" Chloe got shoved back into the locker.

"I wasn't done." Matt growled, looking menacing.

"It seemed like you were." Chloe replied, trying to slide away, but failing miserably. "This has been great, but I have to get to discrete, now."

"It just makes so much more sense, now." Matt mused, making Chloe roll her eyes. "You broke up with me because you're a dyke."

"Or maybe I broke up with you because you beat up my brother and smell like a cat's ass?" Chloe suggested, moving away. "And for the record, I've dated a couple other boys, but I started dating a girl after you, so what does that sa-"

"Shut up!" Matt shouted, shoving Chloe back into the locker. "You're just a stupid dy-"

"That insult's getting old, isn't it?" A voice called from the other end of the hall, causing both Chloe and Matt to turn their heads.

It was Jaime, Chloe's sixteen year old brother. The boy walked down the hall calmly, but Chloe recognized the expression that he wore, the last time she saw that face, Chloe had accidently put his hamster in the garbage disposal. Oh, yeah, he was pissed. Matt took a step away from Chloe and smirked at the redheaded boy. Jaime was tall with lean muscles, but not nearly as muscular as Matt, Chloe didn't like where that was going.

"And aren't you a little old to be picking on girls?" Jaime asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Do I really need to kick your ass again?" Matt sneered, appraising the younger boy.

"Nope, but you can let my sister go to class." Jaime replied, glancing around when a crowd started to form. "Or do I really need to tell everyone how you're such a bad kisser that you turned my sister gay? Or maybe I could tell everyone that _her _girlfriend is much prettier than _yours_, so she's even better at getting girls than you are?"

Matt turned pale, but allowed Jaime to drag his sister out of the line of fire. The two redheads walked swiftly away from the crowd, before Chloe wrapped her arms around her younger brother. It wasn't unusual for the two of them to have each other's backs, so Chloe wasn't surprised that her brother had come to her rescue, but is was much appreciated.

"Thanks, Jaime." Chloe murmured, pulling away and wiping her tears away. "I don't even want to thi-"

"Can we not, then?" Jaime suggested, looking around. "Do you want me to walk you to class?"

"I'm a big girl, Jaime." Chloe reminded. "I'm almost an adult-"

"But you're tiny and-"

"And your voice cracks, you're not intimidating."

"Matt thought so..."


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

* * *

Aubrey listened to Chloe's story, her face growing paler by the second. _I'll kill him_. She thought, feeling white hot rage fill her body, Chloe tried to play it off, but Aubrey wouldn't be calmed. No one was allowed to touch Chloe, never. Chloe put a hand on the blonde's shoulder, smiling softly as if it was alright. But it wasn't, it wasn't alright and Aubrey knew that. No one could hurt Chloe, it was wrong, just wrong.

"He hurt you..." Aubrey mumbled, biting her lip and meeting Chloe's eyes. "We need to report him for bu-"

"Nothing will happen if I do." Chloe sighed, leaning against the blonde. "People are stupid like that."

"Not reporting anything is-"

"What I'm going to do, because I don't have time for it and it won't do anything."

"That's what over forty-eight percent of the American population says when it comes to voting in major elections, but little do they know that their _insignificant _vote can change the outcome of the election. You reporting the incident would be the outlier in a subject group full of people who don't report bullying, this one report can change everything."

"You need to give speeches."

"It's likely that I'll be valedictorian, so I might have to give a speech."

"You'll do gre-"

"You're trying to distract me, you little shit." Aubrey sighed, smiling despite herself.

"Oh, that's a great pet name, Bree." Chloe replied, pulling herself off of Aubrey and pecking her cheek.

"Stop changing the subject." Aubrey snapped, finally looking annoyed at Chloe. "You need to report this, schools are surprisingly strict against bullying-

"Only when the kid who's bullied is straight and white!" The ginger grumbled, falling back into her living room sofa.

"Don't be that way."

"Why not? I'm right."

"Please, for me?"

"Bree..."

"I swear, if you don't report this, there will be nothing stopping me from beating that boy u-"

"I highly doubt that you could beat Matt up."

"My rage will fuel me."

"You'd die."

"No, I'd defeat your neanderthal of an ex boyfriend and teach him not to mess with you."

"You're really protective."

"Well, you're my girl." Aubrey replied seriously. "I have to protect you."

"Stop being cute." Chloe mumbled, pushing Aubrey onto her back and leaning over the blonde. "I won't be able to control myself."

"Not that I mind." Aubrey sighed, pulling herself up. "But your parents are going to be home in ten minutes and your brother _is _here. It would be extremely awkward if he walked in her and saw us kissing."_  
_

"Then he'd start freaking out because his big sister is a bigger lady killer than he is." Chloe laughed, looking slightly put out.

Aubrey rolled her eyes and gently shoved Chloe's shoulder. The redhead dramatically fell over the arm of the sofa and pretended to groan in pain, Aubrey was unimpressed with her girlfriend's actions and merely rolled her eyes again, before looking up when Chloe's father entered the room. The blonde straightened her posture, giving Chloe a turn at rolling her eyes. Aubrey always got so tense when anyone other than Chloe entered the room. It made the redhead feel special, but it was still annoying to her.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Beale." Aubrey said pleasantly. "How are you?"

"I'm great. Aubrey." Stephan grinned, sitting in the chair beside the sofa. "And you?"

"I am well." Aubrey replied with a small grin.

"So, Dad," Chloe interjected, leaning over Aubrey's shoulder to get a good look at her father. "You and Mom are going out of town this weekend, right?"

"Yes..." Stephan raised an eyebrow, as did Aubrey.

"I was wondering if Aubrey was allowed over...?" Chloe gave her father a hopeful look.

"This is unexpected." Aubrey said, making Chloe laugh.

"Well, Chlo..." Stefan sighed, a smile threatening his lips. "I don't know if we- if we can even trust Aubre-" Stephen dissolved into laughter "I'm sorry, it's hard to say that with a straight face. Of course you can stay over."

"Dad!" Chloe groaned, her neck turning slightly red. "You know that Aubrey doesn't understand sarcasm."

"I understand sarcasm!" Aubrey exclaimed with a pout.

"Don't pout, your face'll stick that way." Chloe said, flicking Aubrey's nose.

"That's a lie." Aubrey replied, looking at Stephen. "She's so mean to me, I don't even think that I _want _to stay over."

"Why do you think we're leaving?" Stephen laughed.

"Ha ha ha." Chloe deadpanned, gripping Aubrey's wrist and pulling her up the stairs. "Come on, Bree."

"Keep the door open!" Stephen shouted up the stairs.

"Ew, you want a free show?" Chloe called back, making Aubrey's face turn bright red.

"Chloe." She snapped, entering the ginger's room. "You can't say that-"

"Oh, calm down." Chloe rolled her eyes. "I was just joking."

"It's still wrong!" Aubrey said, sitting with Chloe on the bed. "... You have to repo-"

"I will, okay!" Chloe flopped onto her bad. "Dear, Lord! You are such a nag!"

"I just want you to do what's right for you."

"You're great."

"I am?"

"Of course you are, dummy. I swear, you're the stupidest genius that I've ever met."

"It only takes an I.Q of one-fifty to be a genius."

"Oh, and what's yours?"

"That's personal information."

"You totally know!"

"Of course I do. I got tested when I was younger."

"Tell me."

"I will after you-"

"Okay, so tomorrow, then."


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

_"Wow, sis." _Brad said during his and Aubrey's bimonthly session on Skype. _"You sure are a pussy bandit, huh?"_

Aubrey just gave the screen a withering look while she continued packing her bag for her weekend at Chloe's.

_"So, you're gonna be alone with your girlfriend, all weekend..." _Brad laughed, leaning back in his seat, making Aubrey silently hope that he'd fall over. _"Do you guys even kiss? I feel like you just kind of watch her and take notes on how strange humans are."_

"You're not funny." Aubrey zipped her bag and checked her watch. "You have five minutes to convince me not to galvanize your doorknob."

_"What would that do to me?" _Brad asked, looking slightly worried.

"Would you like to find out?"

_"Okay, I'm sorry that I was insensitive about your relationship, I know how weird you are about other people and I should've known better than to be all stupid and make fun of you."_

"Thank you."

_"Now tell me." _

"I was going to make it so every time that you touch it, you'd get electrocuted."

_"You're evil."_

"You started it."

_"Go hump your girlfriend."_ Brad grumbled, hanging up on his little sister.

"Ass hole." Aubrey mumbled, shouldering her bag and leaving her bedroom.

The Colonel was dubious about his daughter spending the weekend with her girlfriend, but when Aubrey reminded him who she was exactly, the man acquiesced. Aubrey climbed into her car, running a mental list of what she had packed versus what she needed, as expected, everything was in order. The blonde started her car and began the short drive to Chloe's house. As usual, Aubrey's mind began to wander, so she began memorizing the addresses of every house that she passed on her way.

Aubrey pulled into Chloe's driveway and noticed the redhead sitting by the window, trying to look casual as she waved enthusiastically. The blonde laughed and walked up to the door, knocking twice. Jaime opened the door, looking annoyed. Whenever Aubrey went over to the Beale household, she knocked, Stephen and Sophia had told her thousands of times that she didn't have to knock, but the blonde never listened, she had to knock. People shouldn't just walk into others' homes, it was wrong and Aubrey didn't like it.

"Are you a vampire?" Jaime asked, letting Aubrey in.

"The sun is out." Aubrey replied, closing the door. "And I can eat garlic."

"You're weird." Jaime mumbled, walking into the living room and sitting down in front of the television, where he was playing some shooter game.

"And you're alone on a Friday night." Chloe said from her place by the window.

"That's a low blow for someone who owes me one."

"You only made up for that time you accidentally stepped on my goldfish!"

_What?_ Aubrey thought, giving Chloe a disturbed look.

"Come on, Bree, let's go to my room." Chloe sighed, hopping up and pulling Aubrey up the stairs.

"Is it possible to accidentally _step _on a fish?" Aubrey asked, entering the redhead's room.

"I accidentally put his hamster down a garbage disposal." Chloe shrugged, flopping on the bed.

"So it is true."

"What?"

"Gingers don't have souls."

"That's mean."

"You and your brother are gingers and you pureed a hamster and stepped on a goldfish respectively."

"_Accidentally_."

"There's no way those could have been accidents."

"You weren't there!" Chloe argued, dodging Aubrey's bag when she threw it at her. "And you may be super smart, but you're no _Sherlock Holmes_."

"Of course not!" Aubrey replied easily, beginning to reorganize Chloe's bookshelf. "Do I look like I use cocaine or morphine user?"

"Cocaine, maybe..." Chloe laughed at the irritated look that the blonde shot her. "Come on, you're reorganizing my bookshelf."

"Well, you just toss things in there with no rhyme nor reason." Aubrey said, picking up a wax brain. "Why does this exist?"

"I took it from my biology teacher in Sophomore year." Chloe shrugged.

"Thievery and murder." Aubrey shook her head.

"Like you've never done anything wrong." Chloe sighed sarcastically, before her eyes widened. "You _have _broken a rule before, right?"

"I once put a latrodectus my brother's bed," Aubrey furrowed her brow. "Does that count?"

"What's a latrodectus?"

"A black widow."

"And _I'm _the murderer?"

"It was dead."

"What?"

"I just wanted to scare him."

"Which brother was it?"

"Jake. He duct taped me to a wall."

"Where'd you get a dead black- you know, never mind."

"I was studying arachnids at the time and my father had pulled some strings and had gotten me large, preserved specimens."

"How old were you?"

"Eleven, he was seventeen. And if I recall correctly, he cried." Aubrey smiled and took a step away from Chloe's bookshelf, admiring her handiwork. "There you are. It's nice, huh?"

"Okay, tell me another rule that you broke." Chloe demanded, leaning forward. "You do cool stuff."

"You massacre hamsters."

"I'm pretty sure he was asleep."

"And I'm pretty sure that spinning blades of death would have woken him up."

"You could be right."

"Of course I'm right."

Chloe stood up and looked over at her bookshelf, she had to admit, it did look nicer. Aubrey made a puzzled face, before Chloe pulled her back into the living room, where the ginger forced her brother to give up the television. Aubrey opened her mouth to protest, but Jaime really didn't put up much of a fight and wandered off to go play with the Beales' cat, Lescat de Lioncourt.

"You don't get to pick the movie since all you like are math documentaries." Chloe said, looking through her DVDs.

"That's not true." Aubrey replied, grimacing at the state of Chloe's DVDs.

"You criticize sci fi." Chloe sighed, pulling out a couple movies. "You get bored of rom coms, classics make you upset."

"I just want a movie that isn't mind numbingly dull."

"How about _The Matrix_?"

"I've never seen it."

"Well, you'll like it."

"Are you sure?"

"I promise."

"And if I don't like it?"

"I'll watch that Euclid thing that you wanted to watch last week."

"Okay, fine."

Chloe popped in the DVD and got her and Aubrey settled on the sofa, before starting the movie. To her credit, Aubrey was a great movie watcher, she was silent, taking in the finer details of the film, predicting the possible endings based on the events taking place. Jaime entered the room halfway through the movie and made an indignant noise when he realized that they had started the movie without him. Aubrey didn't pay any attention to the boy, keeping her focus on the film, though one thought kept forcing its way into the forefront of her mind. _Why would you even offer the pills? If life is so bad in the real world, shouldn't The Matrix be good? Morpheus is kind of a dick_.

"It was okay." Aubrey conceded when the credits rolled.

"Just okay?" Jaime looked at the blonde incredulously. "Are you on crack?"

"I don't have any interest in illegal narcotics." Aubrey replied, while Chloe laughed.

"You're weird." Jaime sighed, getting up and going to the DVD case. "Do you wanna watch number two?"

"There's a sequel?"

"Actually, there's a three-quel."

"That would make it a trilogy..."

"You're no fun." Jaime looked over to his sister. "She's no fun."

"She once put a poisonous spider in her brother's bed." Chloe replied.

"What?" Jaime looked at the blonde fearfully. "Are you insane?"

"It was dead." Aubrey defended. "The spider, not my brother."

"Oh..." Jaime popped the next disk in. "You're weird."

"Well, you're hanging out with your big sister and her incredibly hot girlfriend." Chloe retorted, leaning back.

"Shut up!"


End file.
